The literal music video started with Dustin McLean's redubbed version of A-ha's "Take on Me" posted to YouTube in 2008, where the lyrics were rewritten and resung to reflect the actions taking place in the video. McLean's Weird Al Yankovic-inspired humor gave way to a number of similar spin-offs, whose jokes often hinge on the goofy and random imagery found in music videos. See below for a few choice clips - please add your links in the comments section.

Rhizome and OpenProcessing launched Tiny Sketch, our 200 character Processing competition, just over one week ago and we are thrilled with the response so far! In just ten days we have had over 150 submissions and the collection is growing everyday. If you think that you have what it takes to code something amazing in 200 characters or less, using the open-source programming language Processing, submit your piece today!

The deadline for submissions is September 13 at which point the winner will be determined by Rhizome's membership in an open vote that will take place between Monday, September 14th to Sunday, September 20th. The winner will be announced on Rhizome.org and OpenProcessing.org and awarded a prize of $200.00 (US). All sketches that are submitted to this competition will be included in the collection page and archived collectively in Rhizome's ArtBase.

To submit your own work or to take a look at what others have done visit the Tiny Sketch collection page at

London's non profit arts agency LUX is seeking applicants for their Associate Artists Program. A 12 month post-academic course for artists working with the moving image, participants will take part in monthly critical seminars based at LUX and will have the opportunity to work with a mentor during the course. The program itself is free, but participants are expected to cover their own costs. Deadline is Friday 18 September 2009 at 5pm. To read more and apply, visit the link below.

I don’t remember exactly how I first came across Random Butler’s YouTube channel, besides seeing a video from it in the “Related Videos” sidebar when I was watching something else, and while I can’t say I know much about YouTube’s algorithm for selecting “Related Videos” I suspect the sheer number of videos on the channel helped it get in my window. Since creating his YouTube account on April 24, 2006, Butler has uploaded 1,219 videos—an average of about one a day. And while there are many YouTube users who maintain frequently updated vlogs, Butler’s is the only one I’ve encountered that shifts the video diary’s role from an emotional outlet to a creative one. Instead of focusing on the user’s persona, it presents a direct record of what he sees and what goes on in his inner world. Butler has pointed his web cam at the television as he wins Zelda, and uploaded several “multimedia messages” that show views of a computer screen or out a car window, taken on a Nokia 6102. In recent months, he has been uploading fewer web cam and cell phone videos and spending more time on experiments that distort clips from games and cartoons. A favorite source has been King of the Hill. Like any diary, Butler’s YouTube channel is composed of incremental fragments and best considered as a whole, but nonetheless, I’ll offer a few highlights here.